


Not All Ghosts Need Punching

by Angel Ascending (angel_in_ink)



Series: Short and Sweet (Fics of About 1000 Words or Less) [14]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, I just couldn't stop thinking about this conversation, I love Caduceus, I miss Molly, just a little sad, short and sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-25
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2019-07-02 13:52:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15797856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angel_in_ink/pseuds/Angel%20Ascending
Summary: “Have you ever met a ghost that doesn’t need punching?”Caduceus thought about that as the conversation of the others faded into the background, their voices turning into white noise as he focused on the question.





	Not All Ghosts Need Punching

**Author's Note:**

> Posted this on Tumblr between episode 31 and 32 and then totally forgot to post it here. Oops.

“Have you ever met a ghost that doesn’t need punching?”

Caduceus thought about that as the conversation of the others faded into the background, their voices turning into white noise as he focused on the question. It wasn’t like he had ever _wanted_ to hurt the ghosts that had come drifting through the graveyard he had called home. He had always tried talking to them first, asking them if there was anything he could do for them to ease their pain, treating them the same as he would have the living who came to him for solace. Of course, that had usually been when the wandering spirit would try to attack him, and after that, well, that was always a fight Caduceus had won. He supposed in that case, using divine magic against a ghost was like punching a ghost, just with magic instead of fists. Which meant that yes, most ghosts needed punching.

Still, there had been one ghost… how many seasons ago? Numbers had never been Caduceus’s friends. He had learned his letters easily, had no trouble reading books, but numbers had always been slippery fish. Fish. He could really go for some nice salmon right about now. He wondered if the inn had any. He should ask.

He had been thinking about something….

Ghosts. Right. Ghosts that hadn’t needed punching.

Ghosts had never risen from the graves in the Grove, the Wildmother’s blessing had prevented such a thing from happening to those that came to lay in her ground, but plenty of people died in the woods, or over in Shady Creek Run. Most of the ghosts that found their way to the Blooming Grove had been elven or half elven, with more than a handful of humans mixed in, the occasional rare dwarf. So it had been a surprise when Caduceus had felt the familiar shiver up his spine that meant a spirit was nearby and had seen the luminescent tiefling standing there.

“Huh. Don’t see many of you around. Is there something I can help you with?” Caduceus remembered asking even as he had prepared himself to lay the spirit to rest.

The tiefling had simply looked at him, glowing faintly as fireflies flickered around the ghostly outlines of his horns and moths danced above what had been close-cropped hair. There had been a few dark spots that hadn’t glowed at all, strange, eye-like markings on the tiefling’s hand and arm and neck. Perhaps a taint of some sort, though Caduceus still wasn’t sure about that, hadn’t seen anything like it before or since.

 _Empty_ , the tiefling had said, barely a whisper, and the foxfire glow of his eyes had looked so sad, so lost. And then the spirit had vanished, leaving nothing behind but a few confused fireflies and moths, which had tangled themselves into Caduceus’s hair.

“Caduceus?”

Caduceus blinked, pulled out of memory suddenly by Fjord’s voice. “Yes.”

“How was your time?”

“Yes. I met a ghost that I didn’t want to— didn’t need to punch.” He smiled, happy to have answered the question, and not entirely sure why everyone was suddenly staring at him. They _had_ asked, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I just kept thinking about how the grave Molly had crawled out of had been near Shady Creek Run and, well, I had to. 
> 
>  
> 
> I'm angel-ascending over on Tumblr if y'all want to stop by and say hi!


End file.
